Ben A

Where did you buy the eel? I've been looking for a dwarf golden eel to add to my tank.

So my wife and I are expecting our first child, a boy, this December. I talked my wife into an "Under the Sea" theme for the nursery. To show my support of her decision, I have volunteered to set up a nano tank in the nursery.... and for some reason my wife loves the idea. So what I have to work with is a 40 gallon breeder. I am going to buy some acrylic and turn it into an AIO tank. I am looking for ideas on the stocking of this tank. I plan on having T5 lighting and will rely on water changes for nutrient export. Im looking for ideas on the stock list. As much as I would love to do a seahorse tank, I'm not able to feed them 3 times a day, but any other "off the wall" ideas are welcome.

Any suggestions on sand for reef tanks with high flow rates for acros and SPS?

I have a mixed reef but have started down the sloppy slope of adding acros.

Looking for input for people who have done setups with BOTH, not just opinions from one side or the other. I am at a crossroads with my new tank. It's currently setup without sand, but I'm not sure if I really like the look at this early stage without coralline algae and corals growing on the bottom glass. From those that have done DT with both, which did you like better and why?

Tank has gone to a new home: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/82844-105-ada-build/ New tank setup coming soon. Will be an Oceanic 156 gallon that I bought from Der ABT.

Love the build by the way.

Im surprised, Ive never had or read about issues with DD. Liveaquaria yes, but not DD. Velvet is a tough one and kills quickly, hopefully you were able to get everyone in treatment before it got to far.

After having this issue a couple times, I decided after the last time I had to let my tank sit fallow for 12 weeks, that I would never put another fish in my tank without QT. I either buy my fish from ERC or LiveAquaria Divers Den. Both QT the fish and are very reliable. If I have to have a fish from a LFS, anthias and angels are always so tempting, I set up a 40 breeder and follow the medication process in this video: I have not had a single sick fish, not a single spot of ich or anything else, in almost 2 years now and have added 90% of the fish in my system over that time span. If you go this route though, dip all new corals and if you add rock to the tank, only add dry rock. While the chance of picking up something from a coral frag or from live rock is almost 0%, its still not worth the risk.

THey look ok from what I can tell. A bit stressed form being in a new tank, but other than that they look fine. It maybe that you have a little to much flow in the tank for them to swim in the open water. They are small and with the airstone, you probably dont need the powerhead. If you turn off the powerhead, I would crank up the bubbles in the airstone just to be safe. Are they eating, that is the biggest sign of stress and illness. If they are eating its a good sign that they are healthy and happy. I also like to black out 3 sides of my QT tanks with paint, I find fish adjust a bit better when they feel a bit more concealed/secluded. Vivid Aquariums has a really good video of QT fish on Youtube. I highly recommend it. It discusses setup, medications, and what to look for. I think fish respond much better to frozen food over pellets when in QT. If they arent eating PE Mysis, try some smaller frozen foods. I used to feed cyclopeez and prawn roe to picky fish and it always worked for me. Those foods are hard/impossible to find these days but there are frozen foods out there that are smaller than PE Mysis.

I would highly consider a used tank off of the forum. A lot of people buy and sell high quality tanks in the "for sale" forum. You can save a lot of money from buying brand new. Below is just one of the tanks currently for sale by WAMAS members. http://wamas.org/forums/topic/81739-156-oceanic-5x2x2-and-stand/

Lol, I told you Id help if you needed it.

That thing is still not up yet???

Old ATO reflectors vs brand new replacement. I bought the fixture with all eight reflectors in this poor condition, not sure how they managed that but finally got around to replacing them. I only had the fixture for 2 years...

Finished with the "skin" now I just need to paint or stain it. I also bought a new ATI hanging kit and changed out the old one that wasn't long enough to reach the ceiling. I didnt realize it until now but the floor of my basement is not level, so with the tank and the light level the skin looks off. I need to put some shims under the right side to level the stand cover so it all looks level.

So I started skinning the metal stand. I used premium pine boards and pocket hole joints to connect everything. I still have to put the sill on the top, and either paint or stain the wood.

I dont worry about my RBTA, my gold flake maroon pair kicks the **** out of anyone who dares look at it in a way they dont like

So I added a few new members to the tank with a Divers Den order. Added a Burgessi... round 2... and a first for one of my tanks, a yellow pseudochromis. I have never had a psudochromis before so this should be interesting. I find myself enjoying watching the yellow pseudochromis guard his new cave and aggressively eating food when I feed my tank. Its a bit more of a tan color, or pastel yellow, than I would like, but that may be it just hasn’t developed the bright yellow color yet or its still adjusting to the new tank. Even if it never gets the bright yellow coloration, its still a great addition. The Burgessi and my yellow tang are working out some territorial issues. I was very surprised that my yellow tang took such offence to the addition of the Burgessi, as they look nothing alike and are different species. The Burgessi is eating, even some flake food, so as long as he doesn’t start munching my red carpet like the last one did and he doesn’t go on a hunger strike it should work out this time. Due to the natural progression of my tank, it does not look like I will be able to add any timid fish to my tank anymore. My large group of anthias is down to one, none were lost to disease, all were lost to stress induced starvation. I know anthias can be tricky under ideal conditions but I do enjoy seeing a large group in a tank and it’s a bit disappointing that my tank is not the right environment for them. It also means that flasher wrasses are no longer an option. Its not worth the money and loss of life to continually add more anthias to the tank. Not going to spend $$$ on a flame wrasse pair to have them die a week later from stress. I believe I am going to try a small group of yellow tail damsels. I have always stayed away from any damsels, ok I know clownfish are damsels but I don’t count them, but I think my tank has moved far enough into the semi-aggressive category to risk a small group of three to five yellow tails. It's not like they are going to bug my monster of a lawnmower blenny or my pair of gold maroon clownfish. If that doesnt work I can afford to dump blue/green chromis in 8 at a time every five months until I can get a stable group. (QT all of them of course!)

Sounds like the skimmer is overpowered for your current bio-load. At this point in your build that's a good thing. You don't want a skimmer that has to work overtime to keep up with the tank with only a few fish in it.

Where were you going to get the acrylic?

I dont run a reactor anymore. My 150 gallon stock tank refugium is finally able to handle the load.